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Cindy Molina Proves It’s Never Too Late!

Student Cindy Molina truly reflects “It’s never too late to get an education.” Growing up a migrant farm labor child who dropped out of school after the 9th grade, for 30 years Cindy, a divorced mother of two, worked janitorial and hotel jobs to provide for her children. Cindy’s neighbor encouraged her to attend SRJC to complete her education, and in 2003 Cindy enrolled at age 48 and quickly became hooked on education. Now three classes short of completing an associate in arts degree in liberal arts, Cindy also intends to earn a career certificate or two after receiving her degree. Her perseverance, success, and deep desire to help other students also landed her a full-time job in fall in the college’s Admissions and Records Department. “I’m truly a success story because of SRJC. I would never have made it this far without all the great faculty and staff support,” says Cindy.

Approximately 100 high school counselors from the District and Marin and Lake counties attended the High School Counselors Conference held at the Windsor Public Safety Training Center on March 16 and on the Petaluma Campus on March 17. The annual event is designed to provide high school counselors with the most current information about SRJC’s programs and services that specifically help incoming high school seniors' make smooth transitions to college. JC staff members from various Student Services Support programs discussed counseling, student support services, financial aid, assessment services, Tech Prep, transfer center, scholarship programs, various career programs, among other topics.

Welcome Dean Robert Chudnofsky

Robert Chudnofsky was recently hired as the Dean of Instruction and Technical Services at the Petaluma Campus. Robert comes to SRJC from Napa Valley Community College where he served for 27 years, first as an adjunct faculty member, and later as a tenured Instructor and Program Director for the Respiratory Care Program. In 2001, he assumed new responsibilities as the Instructional Technology and Distance Education Coordinator, taking on administrative responsibilities in the Office of Instruction that included coordinating adjunct faculty evaluation, serving as high school liaison, and acting as the evening/weekend administrator. With a M.A. in education with a specialization in online teaching and learning and extensive experience in traditional and distance education instruction, program review, curriculum design, and administration, we welcome the expertise that Robert brings to SRJC’s instructional leadership team.

Sawyer Center Supports Inventor’s Success

Studies show that most people over 40 require some kind of reading aid, and Inventor Ron Lando thought that he might just have a helpful answer. After approaching Steve Schneider, Coordinator of SRJC’s Sawyer Center, for guidance to effectively launch a new invention, Ron introduced the CliC Reader, reading glasses that click together magnetically at the bridge of the nose and hang over the shoulders when not used. “It’s the first innovation in eyewear in 200 years,” Ron says, who founded Exis Eyewear in 1996. “I spent four years getting rock-solid patents in place in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and Steve Schneider at the Sawyer Center was invaluable,” emphasizes Ron. His CliC ski goggles – lightweight, stylish, and impossible to lose – took off rapidly, but his nonprescription CliC Readers have outpaced the goggles, including CliC licensing the goggle design for Harley-Davidson. With annual sales now exceeding $6.5 million, CliC ’s achievement is yet another success story for the Sawyer Center.

Soccer Powerhouse Wofford Awarded Full Scholarship

Sophomore Erin Wofford has played for two years on the SRJC powerhouse Women’s Soccer Team, and has now committed to attend Boise State University on a full-ride scholarship. A local player who played for the NCS Champion teams at Maria Carrillo High School, Erin served this year as Team Captain and was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All American team for Junior College Women, an honor only 12 women in the country can boast about. Although many Division 1 colleges pursued Erin, she decided on Boise State because she felt the university is a good fit athletically, academically, geographically, and socially.

Joy Cabin Connecting Education & Life In Paris

Raised in Sonoma County since she was 11, 20-year-old student Joy Cabin has taken classes at SRJC since her freshman year of high school and has earned many high school and collegiate scholastic honors. A Doyle Scholarship recipient, she was recently awarded the Ruth Parle Craig Scholarship to study abroad in Paris this spring.

Planning to pursue a career that combines psychology and chemistry, Joy is considering nursing or medical school. Following her three month Study Abroad adventure, she intends to spend two additional months in Europe. “I’m looking to finding my place in the world and what I’m supposed to do in it. I want to inspire others. Education and life are not disconnected, and I believe that living in Paris will enable me to fully understand how interconnected they are, and also inspire academic growth.”

Health and Education Days Held

For the first time, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce program Tomorrow’s Leaders Today (TLT) came to SRJC to present a unique educational opportunity that focuses on helping youth develop effective leadership skills, a program that’s the youth equivalent of Leadership Santa Rosa. Year round activities expose students to career perspectives, relevant community issues, and various community sectors, such as government, social services, and industry.

As part of TLT, two Health Careers Days were held at SRJC in January bringing approximately 80 high school students from various high schools to the Santa Rosa Campus to explore health-care career training options. Students visited Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa to job shadow in the health-care industry firsthand, discovered the JC’s cutting edge Health Sciences Department and health career programs. Students explored college lab, observed chemistry demonstrations, performed a virtual knee surgery, reviewed SRJC’s 150 of occupational programs, and interacted with instructors, administrators, and students to learn about the many health-care career pathways that are available to them. Discussion groups were facilitated by volunteers from Empire College and Sonoma State University, as well as Dean Ofelia Arellano from the Petaluma Campus to answer students’ questions about health-care arena and college programs.

Welcome SRT Artistic Director Newman

James Newman recently joined SRJC as the new Artistic Director of the Summer Repertory Theatre. Before coming to SRJC, James was the Artistic Director of Seattle’s GREX, a collaborative theatre company that produces an array of national and world premiers. In the past nine years James also taught and directed at Shoreline College and Cascadia College in the Seattle area. His extensive theatre background includes writing and producing original adaptations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Euripides’ Medea. As a professional actor, James has also worked with several companies, including ACT, Book-It Repertory, Tacoma Actors Guild, Fort Worth Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, and the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. With his broad creative talent and skills that range from artistic leadership, directing, and season selection to scenic design, fund raising and grant writing, and staffing and budget management, we ’re certain that there will be many exciting developments in SRT!

Small Schools Event Draws 200 High School Seniors

SRJC Schools Relations held the third annual Small Schools Outreach Event on February 3, which brought 200 senior high school students from smaller community high schools to the Santa Rosa Campus. JC staff met with students one-on-one to discuss the JC’s multiple programs and services that support enrolled students, including the admission process, assessment testing, counseling, financial aid and scholarship services, student campus life, Puente, the career preparation certificate programs, among other services. The students especially enjoyed spending time on the beautiful campus to gain insight to its welcoming and inclusive learning atmosphere. Lunch was also provided, tours were given, and students received a number of school supplies.

Ning Susilo Beating All Odds 

Coming from a small village in Indonesia with limited English, Ning Susilo first enrolled in SRJC English as a Second Language courses in spring 2004. Immediately demonstrating a strong motivation to succeed, in a few semesters Ning completed ESL courses and nearly all required General Education courses. She plans to transfer to Sonoma State University next fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and a Multiple Subject and ESL Teaching Credential to prepare for her ultimate goal of teaching elementary school.

To achieve her educational aims, Ning overcame challenges through perseverance. She has excelled, earning a 4.0 overall GPA. Married with two young sons, Ning also works part time on the Santa Rosa Campus in the Child Care Department and as a reader for the Biology Department. She credits the support and understanding of her family as the key element to her success. Her advice to other students, “Never give up in trying to reach your goals. Never! If you do your best and work hard at it, you will get there.” On March 10 Soroptimist International of Santa Rosa awarded Ning a $1000 scholarship to support her success in college next year.

SRJC Selected Wine Competition Beneficiary

The beneficiary of The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is SRJC’s Wine Studies Program and Culinary Arts Program. Held January 10-13, the wine competition is one of the earliest commercial wine competitions in the country. This year’s competition included all wineries in the U.S., with over 3,318 wines from 900 brands entered in the competition and over 55 professional judges.

Regarded as the Bay Area’s gateway wine event, SRJC was selected the beneficiary of the competition for having one of the most comprehensive Wine Studies programs in the state and fine Culinary Arts Program. With over 1,200 students in the Wine Studies Program each year and the Culinary Arts Program earning the reputation in the North Bay as the leading provider of culinary skills training, students can receive an associate in science degree or certificate of completion in both culinary and wine studies concentrations. As this year’s beneficiary, SRJC was featured in the Chronicle’s January 16 Wine Competition Guide.

Call Children’s Center Receives Exemplary Evaluation Scores

Two evaluative reviews in December and March have again confirmed that the high quality care and education by SRJC’s Call Children’s Center lab school is among the best in the nation. Three observers from WestEd reviewed the center’s Infant Toddler Care methodology for two days in December, and reported the excellence of the program in a detailed 28-page observation report that included a broad range of evaluative comments about all facets of the center’s outstanding instruction and services.

As part of a Contract Monitor Review, on March 1 Child Development Division Consultant Tom Cole spent three days observing both preschool and toddler infant programs. Occurring every three years, the evaluation conducts a thorough administrative review, while also observing the preschool and infant programs on site. Cole performed an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECRS), the nationally recognized program evaluation tool, in the preschool, as well as the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) in infant/toddler area. Both ECERS and ITERS scores were among the highest that Cole has ever scored. According to SRJC’s Joel Gordon, Director, Early Childhood Education, “These exemplary evaluations reflect the skills, caring, and passion of our teaching staff.”

Diesel Schedule Restructured To Benefit Working Students

To help meet the ever-increasing demand from employers for qualified diesel technicians, and, with 70 percent of enrolled SRJC diesel students working full- or part-time (30% of these students also already work in the auto or diesel field), SRJC’s Diesel Program has restructured its offerings by creating a more flexible, integrated course schedule for working students. In fall 2006, the program will increase students’ accessibility to the core classes that are required to earn a certificate or complete a major. Developed by Instructor and Department Head Brian Gully, the new scheduling matrix will allow Diesel students to complete their required coursework in less time, while simultaneously preparing them to enter the job market more quickly. Students already working full time can complete necessary core classes in as little as four semesters through evening classes. For students attending day and evening classes, program completion would take only two semesters.

The changes in schedule greatly benefit students in a number of other key ways: core courses are also available in afternoon blocks; overlapping required classes is now eliminated; core courses rotate in both day and evening schedules; Auto Tech classes are integrated with Diesel classes to allow simultaneous enrollment; a paid, college credit internship program will be initiated for Diesel students.

NEWS ARCHIVES JANUARY 2006
SRJC Forms Partnership With Pepperwood Preserve. Study Abroad Program Doubles Student Participation. SRJC Initiates China Study Abroad Program. Students Can Now Spend A Semester In Spain. Puente Project Continues To Expand. Frank P. Doyle Library Construction Moving Forward. English Learner High School Outreach Pilot. Grant Awarded For Correctional Officer Training Demonstration Project. Petaluma Campus Holds First Latino Awareness Day. Parking Structure Under Construction, Swedish Students Visit SRJC, and more…

NEWS ARCHIVES DECEMBER 2005
SRJC Ranked In Top 100 In Nation. Nursing Students Top Exam Pass Rate. Dental Hygiene Students Rank 4th In Nation. College Welcomes New Vice Presidents. Summer Health Career Institute A Success. Agricultural Pavilion Under Construction. SRJC Addresses California Teacher Shortage. EMS Academy A Huge Success. Dr. Ofelia Arellano Appointed Dean, Petaluma Campus. Customer Service Skills Certificate Introduced. Student Competes In National Robotics Tournament. Culinary Arts Offers Dining Room Service Certificate, and more…